(I stress the word might)
So, Google just keeps on rising. Well, according to this, maybe not. But then, you have this, which clearly believes they are. But I could go on and on and on about these numbers. Point is, taking search engine numbers on a monthly or even biannual bases is a bit pointless. People seem to be blogging frantically the second Yahoo creeps up a half percent, or Google plummets by a humiliating .2%, or something like that.
So, I will refrain from doing either, and me, of heady heights and lofty goals, will instead talk about the big picture. The big picture being, no matter what figures you believe, what little risings or fallings there are, Google command a huge share. Averaging about 60 to 70% around the world. And I’m sorry Yahoo, but I don’t think your plucky underdog status will help you here. The ‘against the odds’, ‘rising from the flames’, ‘on the ropes but wins because of Uniflu’ probably won’t cut it here.
Emilio Estevez: How the Mighty have fallen. Yup, I just punned.
Is anyone else worried? Well, ‘worried’ sounds a bit strong I admit. Its more along the lines of ‘it crosses my mind semi-regularly’. Sure Google are great, we all know it. Their ads have become more annoying, but it’s the only really search engine web designers have to care about (not to mention the sheer handiness of Google Analytics). Google Reader has changed my life. Google Images gave me the above picture.
But its like anything, competition is healthy. And I’m sorry, but the fact that Google is great to work for, that they can do no wrong product wise, and that it’s all mostly pain-free and pocket-free, if the Internet is to continue the way its going, we need competition to breed new ideas, to have choice. It’s like most elections of the past few years, including American and English elections; the alternative to the current regime is horribly mediocre (and I say that as a serious anti Fianna Fail-er).
Sure, Google seem pretty good at doing this now, and if they continue going on in the vein they are now, things will all be rosy. But it could just turn into the benevolent dictator. And a benevolent dictator is still a dictator.
After this blog, I might as well tear up that job application I was about to send them.
If the whole Internet, phones, banks, everyone knowing everything about everybody (something Google are well on their way towards), are soon to connected in this ‘Internet of things’, I don’t feel comfortable knowing that one company will be at the focus of such a thing, even if it’s a company as great and revolutionary as Google. Sure, if more companies get better involved in the market, things might slow down for a bit technology-wise, (which honestly, is debatable, and I do believe we’d start getting things of a higher standard), but anyway, no matter the outcome, competition is Democratic. At least, in 10 years time, we can say we had the option of considering things before we marched blindly on.
It sounds like I’m scaremongering again here, like I’m saying a vote for Google is a vote for terrorism, but I’m not. I just think people should just sit down for a bit and think this out. Now everything’s great, but every Orwellian vision we have for the future has to start somewhere. 50 years from now, who knows what effect Google’s supremacy will have? Whether we end up cursing or praising them, it’s worth a thought.
